Moon Rain Centre

Moon Rain Centre is a non-profit cultural organization dedicated to integrating creativity and harmony in the community through the creation, exhibition and teaching of tapestry weaving and textile arts. The name Moon Rain refers to the mystical connection between the moon, weaving and the cosmos. Located in the Gatineau Hills, in the Outaouais region of Quebec, Canada, Moon Rain is known for its unique approach to creative tapestry weaving. The Vision of Moon Rain is to share the beauty and mystery of Weave

Tuesday, March 29, 2011

One of the changes that we have been working on is the new and improved Moon Rain Centre blog. The new blog can be found at the link below. The postings on this blog will stay in place, but future posts will be on the new one. Thank You and hope you enjoy the new site which will be much more interactive

Thursday, March 17, 2011

Tuesday, February 15, 2011

“During the process of designing and weaving each tapestry, I attune to ancient mysteries of the weaver’s path. The repetition of over and under, followed by under and over, meditatively connects me to Navajo, Mayan and Buddhist beliefs where weaving, or the union of warp, or tantra, with weft, or sutra, creates harmony.” Thoma Ewen, artistic director

Photography by Ken Ewen

Inspired by the natural environment, workshop participants explore and develop their own creativity, immersed in techniques and practices developed at Moon Rain Centre that demystify tapestry weaving, making it accessible to everyone.

Level One: workshops for beginners

July 23 & 24

August 6 & 7

This weekend workshop is an introduction to the art and craft of tapestry weaving. Basic techniques are explored and practiced on small frame looms. While learning to blend colours and build woven shapes and lines, participants create a small tapestry to take home.

$225 includes materials

Level Two: weaving tapestry

July 25 to 29

August 8 to 12

During this week workshop, the patterns of nature inspire woven tapestries, as each participant explores in depth the tapestry weaving process, developing and weaving a visual idea into a finished tapestry.

$475 includes materials prerequisite: Level One

Level Three: mentoring

Mentoring responds to the unique questions and concerns of individual advanced students. Emerging tapestry weavers are shown how to recognize and develop their own unique creative gifts, while learning to become active creative members of their own communities.

prerequisite: Level Two and portfolio

Level Four: weaving and culture

A workshop for teachers, arts educators and cultural facilitators

Weaving transmits the energy of Peace. It has a calming, harmonizing effect on people, especially on children, so is an excellent tool for today’s classrooms and community centers. This workshop teaches simple creative weaving skills and projects that are suitable for all ages, abilities, and cultural programming budgets. In this workshop participants learn how to turn the family ragbin into woven fabric art projects, how to make simple frame looms and weave on them, how to make cloth looms and more.

Tuesday, February 8, 2011

Happy New Year and thank you for all of the interest in Moon Rain Centre. In addition to this blog please check our website at http://www.moonrain.ca/For questions and comments info@moonrain.ca is one of the best ways to reach us.There are quite a few really exciting happenings coming up. More details to come.Once again thank you

On Saturday, September 25th, Galerie Montcalm and the Ville de Gatineau organized a bus tour that visited the textile arts exhibitions organized by Moon Rain Centre in collaboration with the international textile arts event in the Outaouais, “When Thirteen Moons Entwine”.

The bus started in the morning at Galerie Montcalm in Gatineau after visiting the 9th International Triennale of Mini-textilesfrom Angers, France. It then visited Espace Pierre Debain in Aylmer to see the exhibition Fibres Boreales, then drove to Moon Rain Centre to see the outdoor textile arts installations in situ and the studio exhibition, The Thirteen Moons. A gourmet picnic lunch was prepared by chef Chris Hudson, that bus tour participants and artists enjoyed at the waterfall along the scenic walking path at Moon Rain Centre.

On the drive home to Gatineau, the bus stopped to visit the international tapestry exhibit, Fils Lumineux at the Val-Des-Monts municipal hall.

It was a very enjoyable day for the bus tour participants. The word most frequently spoken was “inspirational”.

Photos by Ken Ewen

Tissage-Metissage

Community Weaving Project

The Agora, Maison du Citoyen, Gatineau, Quebec

On Sunday, September 26th was Tissage-Metissage, a community weaving project organized by Galerie Montcalm and the Ville de Gatineau and directed by Thoma and Gabby Ewen of Moon Rain Centre.

Moon Rain Centre's “Collective Cloth” project provided the core of this fabric project that had an amazing resulting immense fabric art work. Over 200 community members participated in the weaving of “Tissage-Metissage”, and a permanent public location is being sought to display the weaving.

Wednesday, October 27, 2010

The integration of textile arts into the natural environment and the mythology of the thirteen moons

When Thirteen Moons Entwine

was an international textile event, inspired by the thirteen moons of the lunar calendar. It was an outdoor laboratory that brought together established professional textile artists with emerging artists in the creation of outdoor textile art installations at thirteen sites along a scenic walking path in nature at Moon Rain Centre, in the Gatineau Hills.

The number thirteen has very ancient and mystical significance, representing the unification of life, creation and the cosmos. In many cultures, the Wise Woman is referred to as a "Woman of the Thirteenth Moon".

When thirteen Moons Entwine included a spectrum of textile arts exhibitions presented in collaboration with major exhibition centres in the region, and offered hands on workshops by internationally known textile artists.

When Thirteen Moons Entwine was an international textile event, inspired by the thirteen moons of the lunar calendar. It was an outdoor laboratory that brought together established professional textile artists with emerging artists in the creation of 13 outdoor textile art installations at thirteen sites along a scenic walking path in nature at Moon Rain Centre, in the Gatineau Hills.

Part of my installation "The Cleansing" represents spirituality and positive thoughts: this optimism overflows out of me and into my tapestry; it is my aspiration that everyone can achieve this fragment of positive energy. - Ewa Bartosz-Mazus